Tourism can impact a destination in many ways. It can have physical impacts on the destination. For example, on the island of O'ahu in Hawai'i, the Waikiki area was transformed into a massive strip of high rise hotels due to the demand from tourists. Hanauma Bay on the same island was impacted so much by tourists swimming that part of its reef died and visitors had to be severly restricted.

Tourism can also have social impacts. It can, for example, move people out of traditional ways of lives and into work that is related to the tourist industry. People stop doing traditional jobs and become tour guides or makers of handicrafts for tourists to buy as souvenirs.

In these ways, tourism can have an impact on the physical and the social aspects of tourist destinations.